


My Beloved Monster

by Hapkido9061



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Castles, Deer god Luhan, Don't Judge, Established Relationship, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, M/M, No Character Death, Prince Tao, Romance, Royalty, Shrek References, TaoRis - Freeform, dragon kris, it fits in perfectly, other EXO-M members mentioned, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23693065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hapkido9061/pseuds/Hapkido9061
Summary: Living as a prince locked away in the tallest tower of the most hidden castle isn't so bad, Tao thinks. Even with a dragon crawling throughout the halls. Especially when said dragon is also the person Tao is in love with that keeps the creeps and knights at bay.
Relationships: Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Wu Yi Fan | Kris
Comments: 5
Kudos: 67
Collections: EXO-M Fic Fest R2





	My Beloved Monster

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written for these two in *such* a long time, it was a nice way to get back into the ship! Also, I've always been in love with the idea that the prince or princess in the tower is in love with their guardian dragon rather than a random person that comes to rescue them for glory. Just saying.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Tao cracks one eye open to the first lights of dawn. A heavy weight is draped across his chest and Tao snorts when he sees Yifan curled around his body. The dragon anchors his tail onto Tao’s leg in a futile attempt to keep him nearby, even if he is fully asleep. Tao tries his best to detangle himself from Yifan without waking the sleeping dragon. When Tao gets free, Yifan lets out a pitiful whine and burrows deeper into the blankets for warmth.

The sight makes Tao question who came up with the notion that dragons were hot blooded and breathed scalding fire on unsuspecting victims.

He stops by the doorway. Yifan doesn’t look like he’s going to be fully awake anytime soon. Tao shoves his feet into the slippers discarded by the archway leading into the bedroom before padding down the stone stairs to the kitchen. By the time he reaches the bottom, he’s out of breath. Sleeping up in the highest room of the tallest tower really isn’t s romantic as he wishes it would be.

After skimming over the contents of the cabinets, Tao chooses to make some simple stew and rice. Not that he had much of a choice on what to make. Jongdae should be coming by within the next week with their food rations from the city. But until then, Tao and Yifan are stuck with the dregs of the barrels. He has to dig through the supplies to find enough food to satisfy both his and Yifan’s hunger.

Tao starts the water boiling after lighting the stove’s fire. It’s nothing fancy- it couldn’t even compare to what the castle has- but it gets the job done. He hums to himself as he chops up the few vegetables and throws them into the water. Tao moves on to get the rice cooking so it will still be warm by the time Yifan finally decides to drag himself out of bed.

The smell after it’s been simmering for a good half an hour tells him that he chose the right ingredients. He’s been sitting at the table, sipping at the last of their tea rations. A thump from up above tells Tao that his dragon is awake. And the sight that greets him is one that Tao will never grow tired of.

“Morning sleepyhead,” Tao says with a singing tune. Yifan must have shifted from his dragon form right before he fell out of bed. His tail isn’t even fully tucked away. Tao clicks his tongue as he spots Yifan’s tail bump into the chair and almost knock it over. The tired dragon doesn’t even notice. He mumbles something incoherent before draping himself over Tao. When the dragon’s weight becomes too much on his shoulders, Tao nudges him to sit down.

Yifan wakes up slowly but surely when Tao passes him his breakfast. He shovels bite after bite of piping hot food down his throat before even seeming to notice Tao’s presence.

“It’s really good… thanks…” Kris says in between chewing. Tao doesn’t even have the heart to chastise his bad manners when the dragon offers him a dopey smile in addition.

“What do you want to do today?” Tao asks once Yifan leans back. He takes in the empty plate as a sign that his cooking has improved since his first day here.

Yifan groans as he stretches back. “I saw a knight making his way to the Northern Chasm. No posse or anything. I should probably take care of that now before it becomes a problem.”

Tao pouts. “But that will take so long! Just let them come and get their hopes up then squash them! It’s so entertaining when they realize the castle has a real dragon and it’s not just a myth.” He smiles up at Yifan- his cheeks reddening.

“You really like that, don’t you?”

Yifan’s voice still holds the scratch of disuse from sleeping and Tao swoons. Even his eyes are still drooping with the slit pupils not doing much to keep out the morning sunlight. How lucky would he be to live in a castle alone with Yifan? The gods must have been thankful for his existence in the previous life to reward him so grandly in this one.

To keep Yifan from flying off to deal with the knight so soon, Tao drags him into the library. It’s a favorite place of both of them. Thousands of books line the shelves, all kept in such an exact order that Tao has no idea how Yifan keeps it straight. When Tao first discovered the library and books as one of Yifan’s hordes, he was shocked to say the least. Dragons have been known to keep hordes for longer than history itself, but Tao always believed the hordes to be of virgins, or gold, or precious items from people the dragon has slaughtered. Not books, or paint, or rocks not even worth a penny that Yifan thinks are pretty.

Tao throws himself onto the day bed. Sunlight is just starting to creep through the bay windows and Tao closes his eyes at the warmth on his face.

“Read me something magical. Something with faeries and unicorns and goblins,” Tao hums as he cracks an eye to watch Yifan search for the perfect book. The dragon unfurls his wings and flies to one of the higher shelves. Tao hears him land none too lightly behind him. “Which one did you pick?”

“It’s a surprise,” Yifan rumbles, lifting Tao’s head up so he can sit down. Once his head is settled in his lap, Yifan curls his feet up underneath himself. He runs a hand through Tao’s blond hair, his claws scratching where Tao likes. The human nudges Yifan with his elbow to get him to start reading.

_“Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, the king and queen were blessed with a beautiful baby girl, and throughout the land everyone was happy, until the sun went down, and they saw that their daughter was cursed with a frightful enchantment that took hold each and every night.”_

“Bet she turned into a dude,” Tao snorts, adding in his two cents. Yifan continues with a lighter voice, amused by Tao.

_“Desperate, they sought the help of a fairy godmother, who had them lock the young princess away in a tower, there to await the kiss of the handsome Prince Charming.”_

“I’d rather have a dragon than some prince with a stick up his ass.” Tao turns to look up at Yifan. From this angle, Tao giggles at how ugly the dragon looks. “They all do, y’know.”

 _“It was he who would chance the perilous journey through blistering cold and scorching desert, traveling for many days and nights, risking life and limb to reach the dragon's keep, for he was the bravest, and most handsome in all the land, and it was destiny that his kiss would break the dreaded curse._ _He alone would climb to the highest room of the tallest tower to enter the princess's chambers, cross the room to her sleeping silhouette, pull back the gossamer curtains to find her-”_

Yifan continues, his voice rising and falling with the emotions of the story. Tao doesn’t fall asleep no matter how comfortable he is. The story draws him in until he imagines himself as the cursed princess (not far from the truth) and Yifan as his unlikely rescuer who is a monster of society (even closer to the truth).

Tao jumps a loud clang is heard from outside. All of his daydreams shatter and he forgets where he was in his imagination. Then, the shouting of a knight on some noble quest to save the poor prince locked up in the tower. Tao bets he isn’t even an outcast of society like in the story. Tao groans louder than he should, burying his face into Yifan’s thigh.

“This is why I wanted to deal with him earlier, dummy,” Yifan chastises. He flicks Tao’s cheek. “Now we have to get up when we’re comfortable.”

The dragon heaves himself up when the knight manages to break into the front gate. The man’s righteous laugh echoing through the stone hallways is proof of that. Yifan growls low in his throat as the knight encroaches his territory. Very few people are allowed into the castle without warning, and unknown knights are not one of them.

“Go get him, my dragon in shining scales,” Tao jokes, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as he follows Yifan. He never misses the fights, even if they lasted a few minutes at best. There’s just something about watching Yifan destroy any hope that these arrogant knights had that Tao loves.

When they get to the balcony overseeing the castle foyer, Tao crouches down beneath the guard wall. He pulls out one of the loose stones so he can peek through and watch the fight. Right behind him is a chasm- once the ceiling over a dungeon far below the ground that caved in many years earlier. And over their head is a ceiling with buttresses that stretch up to the heavens, but no actual shelter from the outside. Blue skies are crisscrossed with the buttresses from Tao’s view.

Call Tao a sadist, but he wanted the best seat to watch the beginning _and_ end of the show.

Yifan has shifted to his impressive dragon form, not quite at full size yet. He is still small enough to nuzzles his snout into Tao’s outstretched hand before getting into position for the act they had all but perfected. Yifan finishes growing to his full size as he catapults himself off the balcony railing and up to one of the buttresses above.

With scales that glisten as maroon as fresh blood, Yifan is a terrifying sight to anyone that’s not Tao. His mouth has two rows of teeth sharper than a blacksmith’s prized sword, and longer too. While Yifan doesn’t breathe fire like some of his dragon friends that Tao has met, he still breathes out a thick ashy smoke with every breath. The smell of sulfur rises in the air just as Yifan gets in position to take on the knight.

Tao stifles a laugh as the knight smells it as well.

“Come out, you foul beast! The prince is mine for the taking!”

“Ooh we have a greedy one,” Yifan hums in a low voice just loud enough that the knight shoots his gaze up to search for the dragon. It rumbles throughout the foyer as Yifan jumps down and lands dead center in front of the knight. His wings are extended on purpose, leaving the knight to gape at the expanse of the scrabbled wings coated in iridescent red and black scales. Yifan folds his wings in while talking. He crawls closer to the frozen knight, his claws clicking against the stone.

“So…” Yifan drawls. His tail knocks against the trembling boots of the knight as he circles the new visitor. “You think this prince is yours?”

“Yes… yes I do…” the knight says. Tao whistles lowly. He is impressed the knight managed not to stutter. Too much.

“And you think he wants to go with you?”

“Well he certainly wouldn’t want to stay here. Not with a cruel beast such as yourself.”

Yifan pauses to look the knight in the eyes. He’s heard every insult in the book. Monster, beast, Satan’s spawn. None of them phased him anymore when he had Tao to whisper sweet nothings to him before he fell asleep each night. “Make sure your own finger is clean before you point, Knight.”

“I am not cruel! Monster!”

“Call me that again, I love the way the name rings.”

He rises up on his tail and makes to grab the knight. But he missed the knight unsheathing his sword seconds before and winds up narrowly missing a cut to his leg. Yifan snarls, his pupils shrinking into sharp slits. It only takes one swipe to trap the knight in hand; no matter how much the man squirms Yifan does not let go.

Yifan brings the knight to his mouth, displaying all of his pearly white fangs lining his mouth.

“Now, now. What do you think we should do with men that think they own others?” Yifan hums. He crushes the knight tighter until the sword clatters to the floor. “Eat them? Burn them?” One eye is kept on Tao to make sure nothing that he is doing is too extreme. If Tao calls him off, Yifan will simply let the knight go without further injury.

But Tao remains silent. He watches on with eager eyes.

“Let them go…?”

Yifan cackles, smoke rising up in the air as it puffs out of his throat. His wings extend out and encase their figures. “Now where’s the fun in that?”

The dragon shoots into the air in one motion. Tao is distracted by the thought of what he wants as a snack as he watches Yifan navigate the buttresses- latching on and launching himself from one to the next until the two are at the top. The dragon roars, an ear shattering sound that shakes the castle walls. And then he’s gone into the air, taking the screaming knight along with him.

Tao gazes into the sky as Yifan’s figure shrinks as he flies out to where the forests are. A few puffy clouds laze through the sky.

“Hmm… it’ll rain tonight,” Tao thinks aloud as he sees the puffy white clouds. They’re a telltale sign of a storm. Hopefully Yifan will land somewhere in time before it comes, if it does. The dragon hates having to fly during storms.

With nothing left to do right at the moment, Tao stands and stretches his arms above his head. The show did not disappoint today, and Tao couldn’t be more content. Sometimes, the knights actually land a hit on Yifan. He hasn’t stepped in to fight the knights themselves quite yet unless Yifan is away, but he’s certain the day is coming.

Or others, the knights and princes simply ran away without even trying to fight Yifan. Those were the boring days.

Tao wanders into the kitchen, scrounging around for any fruit they had left. After finding some dried mangoes Yifan picked up from a distant island, Tao settles back down into the library. The story he and Yifan were reading before lies open to the page where they left off. Tao closes it with a bookmark, not wanting to get ahead without Yifan. Instead, he chooses an instructional book on gardening.

Spring has come, after all, and Yifan loves the flowers Tao grows.

. . .

“Wake up, baby.”

Tao mumbles something incomprehensible. A finger strokes his cheek. Tao cracks an eye open as he feels the claws and scales left on the humanoid fingers. His smile turns to a pout in the blink of an eye.

“You took so long… Four days!”

Yifan huffs out laugh. A plume of sulfur smoke sneaks out. “I made a few stops, picked up some food and things.”

“Why?” Tao asks, rubbing at his eyes. When he pushes himself up onto an arm, Yifan slips onto the bed by his side so Tao can lean on his body without much effort.

“Jongdae wrote to us last week that he won’t be able to leave the kingdom for a while and so he couldn’t deliver us anything, did you not pay attention? I just bought us what he would have brought.”

Tao brightens up at the mention of food. Both his and Yifan’s stomachs are grumbling without shame. When he gets up and yawns, he smells the rain on Yifan. It must have still been storming all while he was sleeping. The weather has been too nice lately, the storms only increasing in intensity once Yifan left. And if he mentioned getting so much food, then he most likely stayed in his dragon form for quite some time.

Tao nudges Yifan towards the kitchen so they can put away the food. Well, it would mostly be Tao doing the work seeing as how Yifan’s hands are still scaled and clawed, along with his wings and tail dragging behind him. He won’t be much use when he can hardly grab anything daintily or turn around without knocking something over. The longer Yifan stays in his dragon form, the longer it takes for

The human stops at the entryway to their kitchen.

When Yifan said he bought food, Tao didn’t realize he bought enough to feed an entire army and more. Crates of overflowing food and supplies are stacked on every which surface. Tao feels his excitement bubble up when he spots all of the fresh veggies and fruits. He is so tired of dried or pre-stored fruits and vegetables, he can’t help but dig into the first carrot he pulls out.

“I also got us meat,” Yifan says with a grin. It comes off as predatory with his pointed teeth still out on display and his tongue flicking out to lick his lips at the thought of meat. But Tao only snorts at the sight, learning over the boxes to kiss Yifan.

“You’re too sweet. Please tell me you at least paid for it this time.”

Yifan shrugs, leaving the question unanswered. But he’s trying his hardest not to crack a grin. Tao groans, knowing that means that Yifan probably terrorized the poor merchants in the kingdom with his dragon state rather than wait and pay the normal price. And now, he’s stuck in the middle of transforming back for the next few days as he settles back into human skin.

“We have gold and silver to pay for these things, you know. I’m technically still royalty and you have your gold from payments or whatnot,” Tao reminds him. Yifan acts as if he pays no mind, rummaging through one of the larger crates. He pulls out a smaller box from inside and Tao sees that the space between the two boxes was filled with ice to keep the meat cool.

“Yifan.”

“I don’t like spending dirty royal money. Or my own,” Yifan says. A grumble rises in his throat at the displeasure.

“But think of it like this. The kingdom is not my parents. The more of their money we take and spend, the more we’re giving it back to the people of the kingdom.”

“Have you read Robin Hood much?”

“Maybe so.” Tao jumps up to the counter to open up the cabinets. “Careful with the meat! I don’t want to eat ripped up chunks of whatever all month.” Yifan works more carefully at the reminder as he places the meat in the cooling box. It’s nothing too special, just a stone carve out in the wall with a small door. But one of Tao’s childhood friends Minseok enchanted it with a freezing spell, keeping whatever is stored in it frozen.

They work in silence, putting away the food so it won’t sit out and tempt their snackish selves. Tao gets down to the last box as Yifan starts on dinner. The time spent putting the food away gave the dragon time to retract most of his claws, leaving behind human fingers. When he uncovers the crate, he’s a little surprised to find bottles and jars instead of food.

He picks one up to examine it, recognizing the mark of the healer Yixing near the bottom of the glass.

“What are these?” Tao asks as he rifles through the bottles. They clink as he pulls them out one by one. Most are simple medicines- burn creams, antiseptics, and the like. He unscrews the lid from one that he doesn’t recognize and finds a sweet smelling salve inside. It’s familiar but he can’t quite place his finger on it.

“It’s spring, Tao.”

“Yes, Yifan.”

Tao answers with a sarcastic chirp. He looks on at Yifan for more explanation. The dragon lifts an eyebrow as Tao keeps smelling the salve. He waits until Tao’s memory is jogged from the scent. While Tao thinks, Yifan resumes finishing their meal and starts to lay it out on the table. It brings amusement to Yifan when Tao’s face finally lights up with understanding.

“Oh! I didn’t realize you were going to molt so soon!”

“Of course you didn’t Taozi,” Yifan says with only amusement in his tone. “You’ll have to ward off any knights that come. Those poor knights won’t know what hit them.”

Tao snorts, taking the first bite of his dinner. “They’d be better off fighting you than me. I’ll kill them all with one punch!”

That statement is not quite a lie and they both know it. It’s one thing to be bested by a hulking dragon that has a wingspan large enough to block out the sun. And then it’s another to come face to face with the supposed-to-be-rescued- prince and have him snap your arm before tossing you out like garbage. Tao’s proud of his skills, and it shows when it comes down to beating some egotistical knight.

They finish dinner in silence. Neither minds the peace, especially when Tao stats to hum under his breath and the setting sun peeks in through the window. The human is the first to break the hazy peace they’ve settled into.

“Are you going to be whiney and cute like you always are when you molt? That’s my favorite Yifan to be around.”

Yifan groans, letting his head drop. Tao laughs with glee.

. . .

Tao finds himself stretching out alone in the courtyard after his evening wushu practice. Yifan has run off to somewhere that Tao doesn’t know. If he’s to guess, Tao would say he went for a midafternoon flight to stretch his newly molted wings or down to one of his hordes to organize.

He wipes the sweat from his brow. The day has only gotten hotter and hotter the more the hours pass, and the incoming night hasn’t given a reprieve. Tao stands, taking his time stretch out his sore arms, before entering back into the castle. The courtyard’s entryway is nestled in between the high tower’s stairs and the hallway leading to more rooms with no real purpose. Before entering, he spots Yifan’s tail swishing back and forth before slithering into their bedroom.

Tao doesn’t why Yifan has slipped into his dragon form. Some days are just easier to deal with life as a dragon. Tao gets it.

As a cool down exercise, Tao takes the steps up to their room two at time. At the halfway point, Yifan lets out an earthshaking roar from above. Tao cocks his head. That’s… not normal. He continues on, increasing his pace until he reached the carved archway of the room. Everything’s in place as it should be- the blankets, the desk, the overflowing wardrobe.

But there’s no Yifan.

“What the hell?”

Tao takes a final look around the room. The only thing he notices is the bay window is thrown open all the way, which isn’t too strange considering he just saw Yifan come in only minutes before. He crinkles his brow, trying to figure out if Yifan is messing with him again. Tao pours himself a glass of water rom the bedside pitcher and sips at it while he thinks of where his dragon could be hiding.

His smile turns giddy at the idea of Yifan flirting again. It’s not uncommon for him to, but they’ve been so comfortable with each other lately that Tao didn’t think there would be a need to flirt like they did when Yifan was first assigned to guard his tower. With that thought, Tao all but skips down the stone steps, pretending like he doesn’t know what Yifan has in mind.

When he checks the library, it’s empty. Tao makes sure to check any nook or cranny that Yifan in his smallest form could fit into. The next rooms are all the same. Yifan isn’t in the kitchen, the downstairs bedroom they use, his horde rooms, the main cellar, or even the dungeon. He spares a glance out to the foyer, but doesn’t explore it.

Tao feels the confusion more than anything by this point. Almost all of the other rooms in the castle are just for collecting dust. Yifan wouldn’t hide in those rooms in the same way Tao wouldn’t check in them.

Tao pauses at the same intersecting hall. He glances out to the courtyard, but it’s just as empty as it was before. He turns back and something hard smacks him in the chest.

“Run my prince!”

Tao is too startled to form a response. The knight (Tao can at least make out that much about the mystery person) grabs a hold of his wrists and yanks Tao along. He catches Tao off-guard again, and he’s left to stumble along with the knight until his mind clears. Confusion laces his mind. Tao plants his feet and yanks his hand out of the knight’s grasp.

“What are you doing?!”

“What am I doing? What are _you_ doing?! We need to get out of here before the dragon recovers!”

It’s at these words that Tao notices the crimson blood staining the iron armor. While the knight’s not wearing any sort of helmet, his body is covered in heavy armor much stronger looking than any other armor Tao has seen. There’s not so much as a scratch on the knight’s body- it must be Yifan’s. His heart beats loud enough that his ears don’t make out the words the knight says. The only thing filling his mind is…

_Yifan._

Tao doesn’t try to fight the knight, or even to hurt him when he hears Yifan let out another roar. But it’s not his normal sound. It’s a howling sound filled with pain. The knight doesn’t hear how much damage he’s done to Yifan, only a monster letting out a warning call. Tao remains frozen in place.

“I do apologize for being so sudden, but your parents did pay for a rush fee to get you rescued. Being too old and needing to get married, all that, and they said the dragon might have eaten you by now,” the knight begins. Tao feels an unadulterated anger ignite. Of course his parents were behind this. “That wound won’t slow him down for long.”

“What?”

He pushes Tao towards the door when the prince doesn’t move. “I added as much Fire Hemlock to my blade as I could, but he’s a nasty one. I bet he’ll fight through the poison until it kills him.”

That is the last thing Tao needs to push him over the edge. He spins on heel and smashed the heel of his palm into the knight’s uncovered nose. The knight stumbles backwards, one hand coming up to cradle his nose and the other reaching for his sword. Tao beats him to it. Before the knight can catch his balance, Tao headbutts the knight in the forehead and reaches for the sheathed sword in one movement. He tosses the weapon out of reach.

While the knight is curled up in pain, Tao delivers one final swift kick to the head. It knocks the man out cold. Tao rips as much armor from the knight’s body as he can manage so he can throw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Yifan yowls out in pain a second time and Tao hurries to deposit the knight somewhere that he won’t become a problem. His mind is racing through the options. Not the kitchen, the dungeon is too easy to escape, the foyer is an easy escape when he wakes up…

Tao passes by one of the doorways leading out to the forest treeline.

The forest.

It’s the easiest option, albeit one of the more gruesome ones. But Tao doesn’t have time to worry about what becomes of the knight. He only worries about if he can make it to Yifan in time.

Tao shoves the door open and beelines for the woods. He has no qualms coming this close to the forest filled with only aspens and spirits, but he’s sure other mortals would be. Especially at night when the forest is just starting to wake up. With a grunt, he tosses the unconscious knight to the ground against one of the more gnarled trees. A few will o’ wisps pop up out of the moss, coming to examine the man. Tao shoos them away.

“Luhan?”

His voice is soft. Tao waits, not hearing an answer. Surely the god of the forest is awake by now. The moon has started to rise on the horizon and the sun is long gone.

“Luhan!”

If he squints, Tao can make out Luhan’s head in the mist. It’s nothing more than a deer skull with antlers spindling out like fingers, but the sight brings him comfort. Luhan drifts closer to the duo. He unhinges his jaw in the general direction of Tao- a smile of appreciation.

Tao gestures down to the knight. Some of Yifan’s blood has transferred onto his own shirt and Luhan stares down at it. Luhan and Yifan have been friends ever Tao was locked in the castle, and probably longer. Tao guesses Luhan already knows who the blood belongs to.

“Zitao.” Tao stiffens at his name being spoken in such a soothing voice. If he didn’t know Luhan personally and isn’t acquainted with the god, he surely would fall for the deadly voice luring him in. But the god doesn’t seem to be out for Tao’s spirit. Instead, Luhan holds out a vial small enough to be slipped in Tao’s pocket. “A life for a life.”

Tao takes the vial. His fingers brush over the hooves in place of hands; it takes everything Tao has to suppress a shudder. A black liquid sloshes around the glass vial. He’s not sure what to say in response, but the knight saves his mental debate. He lets out a groan, trying to stand up unsuccessfully. Once Tao is sure Luhan’s attention is held by the knight’s awakening, he leaves before he can see what the god has in store for the knight.

Back in the castle, Yifan’s cries have quieted. Tao panics when he calls out and gets no response in return. He knows where Yifan _isn’t_ , but he’s not quite sure where the dragon is. The most likely option is somewhere out in the foyer; Tao runs out onto the foyer’s balcony to check. When sweeping the ground for any signs of his dragon, Tao spots a thin trail of blood leading out of sight. He hurries down the uneven stairs to follow the trail. The blood increase the longer he follow it through the foyer.

Tao finally spots Yifan. He’s still in his dragon form, curled into himself in the darkest corner. The moonlight glints ever so slightly off his scales wet with blood. He runs to kneel by Yifan’s side. Yifan cracks an eye open when he smells Tao, whining and trying to nudge his head into Tao’s hands.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Tao coos, trying to keep Yifan calm. He isn’t sure of the extent of his injuries yet.

Yifan huffs, shutting his eyes. Tao stands to run his hands over the length of the dragon’s body. He finds nicks and cuts littering the entire expanse of the scales, and finally, the deepest gash. It spans the length of Yifan’s underbelly and down onto one of his back legs. There’s no way he can manage to heal this with just bandages and Yixing’s salves. But he can’t let Yifan know yet.

“We need to get you up to one of the beds so I can wrap your wounds, alright? And then you can sleep and rest and be comfortable.” Tao bites his lip as he stumbles over his words. “We just… you have to shift to your human form. Can you do that for me baby?”

Tao waits a moment for Yifan to build up his strength to shift. The process takes twice as long as it should. Every step looks painful and Yifan’s face is screwed up in pain as he tries to shift his stomach and legs back. Tao cradles his head in his hands, kissing the dragon’s forehead.

Yifan finally gets most of his body back to a human form. His ever stubborn tail and claws are still out, even his horns haven’t fully disappeared. Tao knows without a doubt that Yifan can’t stand the minute he looks at how deep and long that wound is. He gets his arms underneath Yifan’s knees and back, carrying him bridal style up the stairs and to the nearest room with a bed.

The bedroom he settles Yifan into is one he recongizes as the one Jongdae stays in when he visits. Tao leaves to scrounge around their medicine stock pile. Yifan catches his sleeve before he can walk away.

“Don’t go…”

“I need to get you supplies, Yifan. I won’t be long.”

“Taozi…”

Tao presses a second kiss to Yifan’s lips to distract him long enough that he can slip out of the room. Once away from the dragon, Tao goes straight to his mission of finding medical supplies. He doesn’t let his mind drift away to ruminate on the what-if’s. Not yet. After digging in the supplies and finding enough bandages to wrap Yifan as well as some numbing creams, needles, and thread, Tao heads back to Yifan.

Seeing Yifan’s labored breathing, Tao pushes a few pillows on the bed under his back to prop him up better. He tries to make quick work of cleaning the wound, but the poison has had too long to soak in for it to be of much effect. But he wipes off as much blood as he can, pulling the needle and thread through Yifan’s skin before it has the chance to start bleeding again.

Tao realizes his mistake too late. Yifan hadn’t been expecting the stitches so suddenly, and he lashes a hand out. The dragon’s claws catch Tao’s flesh at the shoulder and tear down into his arm. Tao yelps in pain, pulling back from his task at hand. That’s not what concerns him though. Tao could care less about his own injuries. What does worry him is the lack of awareness Yifan has. He doesn’t even seem to realize he tore into Tao’s shoulder.

The human swears under his breath, moving out of Yifan’s reach to try and stitch him up more. It’s futile and Tao knows it. But he does it anyways.

When the stiches are finished, Tao moves to wrap up the damaged skin after rubbing a light layer of numbing salve on. While it won’t help the larger gash, it will help the smaller ones. Yifan’s breaths are getting shallower by the minute. Tao lays his head down on the bedding and grits his teeth. Everything that can be done, has been done.

No. There has to be something left he hasn’t tried.

He stands with jerky motions. The movement causes Luhan’s vial to tumble out of his pocket and onto the stone floor below. Tao stares down at it. To be honest, he has no clue what it is or what it does. He uncorks the top. A whiff of something hits his nose. Tao can’t put a finger on it- it’s not pleasant nor unpleasant.

Luhan gave no instructions. Tao hardly remembers what the god even said when he gave him the vial. He guesses that either he should pour it onto Yifan’s wounds or have the dragon drink it. There’s not enough liquid to try both. Tao hesitates.

What if this kills him?

What if this sends his soul directly to Luhan?

But what if… this saves him?

Tao makes his decision.

He opens Yifan’s mouth, dumping the liquid onto the dragon’s tongue. Yifan is fading quickly. The dragon doesn’t have the energy to even swallow the liquid. Tao tips his head back so it can drain down his throat. Yifan coughs wetly at the sensation but doesn’t do anything more.

And so Tao waits.

. . .

They never finished the story, Tao thinks as he strolls to the library. There’s no hurry to go faster. It’s not as if the horde of books is going anywhere.

He has two cookies in his hand, passing them over to Yifan resting on the daybed of the library. The dragon takes one, nibbling at the edge. Tao tells Yifan of his complaints of not ending the story.

“We didn’t.”

“So… want to finish it now?”

Yifan continues eating the cookie, shrugging at the suggestion with a soft smile. Tao takes that as a yes. He knows he’ll have to read; Yifan would probably fall asleep in the middle either way. His healing had been going well, but his body still got tired at the smallest of activities. Tao finds the book tucked away on a higher shelf with the bookmark still in place.

When Tao sits, Yifan snuggles in to make himself comfortable. Tao begins the final chapter.

_“The Happily-Ever-After potion! It’s midnight!”_

_“My love, is this what you want? To be this way forever?”_

_“What?”_

_“Because if you kiss me now... we can stay like this.”_

_“You'd do that for me?”_

_“Yes.”_

Tao grows quiet at the last line. Yifan is asleep in his lap, hot breath blowing out at a steady pace. He runs a hand through the mussed hair, tracing down his ear to his jawline, and to his lips.

_“I want what any prince wants. To live happily ever after... with the dragon I married.”_


End file.
